Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Heather's Baby Shower

More than a month ago, I headed up to Tulsa to enjoy time with my cousins and to attend Heather's baby shower.

Heather is my cousin Wade's wife. Wade is my cousin Kristin's brother. Kristin is my cousin/best friend (not the broadway cousin but just as awesome). Are you following now??!?! I'm so lucky to have Kristin and Kerri as cousins and to grow up with them and be so close and so close in age because basically, they are my sisters. And for a girl with only two brothers - that is a big deal!!! :) And now I even have one sis-in-law (thanks Kent!) and one soon-to-be (I hope...Carter - make this happen!!).

Me and Kristin

Also, Wade and I are only one month apart in age so we've always been close too. Heather and I actually met at the Kappa National Convention before she and Wade became an item in college. So I just love having her as a cousin now too!

Wade, Kristin and Me

Julie, Me, Heather, Kristin

Isn't Heather adorable as a pregnant girl?!?!?! You cannot really tell that she's even pregnant here.....well, she is and I can guarantee you that we can all hate her about as much as we hate Chelsi for being such an adorable preggo.

The shower was beautiful and so much fun! They are having a baby boy - Tanner. Tanner is supposed to be arriving very very soon, and I cannot wait to meet him!

Funny story from the shower....
Julie (my other cousin and Kristin's sister, see above pic) and I pretty much had a knock down drag out in front of everyone at the shower when we got in a huge fight about who gets to hold Emery, Kristin's precious daughter, during the shower. Originally, Julie won the fight, but somehow I ended up with Emery five minutes later and held her for the rest of the shower. I was holding her, changing her, showing her off, etc. Then, towards the end of the shower, someone came up to me and said "How old is she?" and I answered back "4 months" like a pro. A few minutes later and several ladies came up to me to "oooo" and "ahhhh" over Emery (because it's impossible not to) and they totally thought she was my daughter from the questions they were asking me. Well, I was just having too much fun with this, so let them think it. They were pretty freaked out though when I walked out the door to leave and left Emery behind....in her car seat. That's when they finally realized she belonged to Kristin! It was so funny!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

On The Road With Kerri: Opening Night in Syracuse, NY!

I'm starting a new blog segment called "On The Road With Kerri" where I will highlight some of the adventures of my cousin, Kerri Brackin as she travels on the national tour of Avenue Q!


Today is a big day since she is kicking off the tour in Syracuse! It's opening night! And this morning, Kerri was on "Bridge Street" - a popular morning TV show in Syracuse. After a brief interview, four of the cast members performed the song "I Wish I Could Go Back To College".

Interview
The videos I had posted earlier were a little too much for my computer, so I am posting links to the show. Check out the interview - click here.

Performance
Check out the performance - click here.

Next stop: Scranton, PA! Hopefully she'll get an opportunity to stop by Dunder Mifflin.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Clean Freak!

Two blogs in two days....I am on a rollllll!!!!!!

Anyone who knows me well knows I am an absolute freak when it comes to cleaning, germs and the like. I am semi-OCD about it...well, I used to be anyway until my house was invaded by my two dogs, Madeline and Kosmo. Ask anyone, especially Michael and they will tell you I am much more laid back than I used to be!


This summer was the first time I really noticed the shedding getting bad, so I have been searching and searching for cleaning products that make my life easier and hair free! We have hardwood floors throughout the house except for the bedrooms, and I have found them to be very difficult to clean. I was cracking up because a couple of months ago when my housekeepers came to clean, I got home and they were in the middle of vacuuming and mopping our hardwood floors and Adella said to me "hairs, hairs and MORE hairs"....I was cracking up and feeling sorry for her at the same time because it was so true.

After that day, I vowed to vacuum at least once a week but it never happened! First of all, it never happened because vacuuming doesn't really pick up everything and it takes me 30 minutes yet I still don't notice a huge difference on my floors - it basically moves things around. Also, the cord gets in the way, etc. etc.

I have finally found a product that is super easy to use and completely takes care of all of the hairs and messes on my floors!! I am completely OBSESSED!!! It's the swiffer vac! It's cordless and very lightweight...less than $30 (at Walmart)....and not only vacuums effectively but also has a dry cloth that picks up anything that gets left behind. I just go grab the vac (the fact that its so lightweight and cordless is the key to its efficiency), then I start going (it even reaches easily under the couch), and 5 minutes later my floors are literally spotless! If you have the same problem as me, you should really check this out!


My second favorite new cleaning product find is the Fur Fighter Hair Remover from 3M! Its less than $10 for the starter pack and then the refill "hair grabbers" are less than $4!! I use this at least twice weekly to get rid of ALL the dog hair on my couch and couch pillows and quilts, etc. It is absolutely fantastic and even removes embedded hair!! After about two minutes, my entire (big sectional) couch is totally hair free and looks brand new!!!! This is a million times easier than trying to vacuum the couch! A real lifesaver!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Some Pennington Family Updates!

Hope you enjoy these....here are some updates of what's been going on with me!

1. Michael turned 28 on September 3rd! We went out and had a blast and crossed off a couple of our "do before baby" wishlist items. :)

2. Madeline turned 2 years old on September 17th! I miss the puppy stage but love this age because everything is so much easier now...though if only she would learn to be calm when we have visitors and not want to jump on them and lick their faces. We are really working on this right now!! I just read this out loud and realized this is major evidence that I need a BABY!!!

3. In my "Tagged" post, one of the things I wrote that I wish I could do was to sing at someone's wedding before I die; well, now I've been asked to sing at someone's baby shower, which is definitely close but something I've not heard of before, so we'll see how this goes. I will try to get it on video and download to the blog! The shower is October 24th. My sweet friend Amy Robinson is going to sing with me for two songs!! She has a beautiful voice and sings harmony so well! We are singing "For Good" from Wicked (she singing Elphaba's part and I'm Glinda - big shocker, I know!) and also "Knees to the Earth" by Watermark.

4. Coming up soon....my Mom has planned a reunion of sorts for our family. We are headed to a bed and breakfast on Lake Granbury for a little R&R. Since it tends to be very difficult to find a time for a getaway weekend that works for everyone, so she sent out adorable "save the dates" for this weekend several months ago and now we are all going to be there. Great idea Mom! It will be my mom, Michael, me, Kent and his wife Nicki, and Carter and his girlfriend Elyse (Elyse is already a completely integral part of our family - we absolutely adore her).

5. On Saturday, my friend Chelsi came to visit Dallas (she lives in Florida but is moving back in the next few months - yay!) and I got to meet her precious daughter Brierley! We had a blast catching up. We got to go to our friend Susan's house to spend time with her and meet her sweet newborn baby girl Carlee. Two of our other high school friends were there as well - Chelsey and Brynn. Girls - I had an absolute blast and always look forward to seeing my HS friends. I love that there are so many of us that live in the DFW area....but we need to get together more often. We (and when I say "we" - I mean everyone but me b/c I'm not the biggest football fan and b/c I was having so much fun with the babies) watched the Tech vs. Texas game and it was very strange because I was the only Aggie there and that is usually NOT the case. I'm used to being part of the majority crowd of Aggies from my HS, so that was nuts. I've been called a 2%-er before though so it's probably not a surprise that it didn't phase me being the only Ag....I don't get into the competitive thing....I just want to have FUN! :)

6. The Village Church (my church) opened up a new campus in Dallas! It's called their Northway campus and it's located at Midway and Walnut Hill. We absolutely love it!!!

7. We are officially obsessed with Dave Ramsey! We are addicted to his show and find it so motivating to hear his wisdom and advice as well as the stories of other people who are striving to live different from most Americans....debt free (including their mortgage!). So recently, we switched to an all cash envelope system which has proved to be the key to the Pennington family spending much less $$!

8. My cousin Kerri ended her national tour with Hairspray and booked yet another national tour - Avenue Q! She is the "Bad Idea Bear Girl" and "Mrs. T" and the understudy for "Lucy the Slut" among others...she is coming to Dallas May 25, 2010 through June 5, 2010. Tickets are not on sale yet, but I cannot tell you how excited I am for her!!! I am soooo proud of her accomplishments! Click here to see an article where she is highlighted in the Norman, OK (her hometown) newspaper. Avenue Q is unlike any musical you will ever or have ever seen - it's truly unique and raunchy and hilarious!! The show is largely inspired by (and is in the style of) Sesame Street; most of the characters in the show are puppets - you have to see it to get it. I will just be laughing hysterically if I get to see Kerri play Lucy the Slut! She will crack me up at that role and all the others for sure! This is special to me too because Avenue Q was the show Kerri and I saw together on my first visit of MANY once she moved to NYC to pursue her dream!


9. I'm currently re-reading Twilight and will also re-read New Moon before the movie comes out 11.20.09. I am sooooo excited!! You will be too when you see this trailer:



Love, Allison "Team Edward thinking about switching to Team Jacob after seeing that trailer!!" Pennington